PRESS RELEASE
Barclays Group Chairman Nigel Higgins Joins OQC Board, Underscoring OQC’s Quantum Computing Leadership in Financial Services
- Nigel Higgins, Group Chairman of Barclays and former Co-Chief Executive of Rothschild & Co, brings decades of leadership at the highest levels of finance to the OQC Board.
- His appointment reinforces OQC’s commitment to quantum computing for financial services.
READING, UK – 3 September 2025 – OQC, a global leader in quantum computing, today announced the appointment of Nigel Higgins, Group Chairman of Barclays, to its Board. His appointment reinforces OQC’s commitment to quantum computing for financial services and reflects the growing strategic importance of quantum to the global finance sector.
Nigel brings more than four decades of experience in global finance. He has served as Group Chairman of Barclays since 2019, following a 36-year career at Rothschild & Co, where he held senior leadership roles including Co-Chief Executive and Deputy Chairman. He brings extensive board-level experience in the governance of major organisations; he has served as a Non-Executive Director of Tetra Laval, a position he has held since 2016; and Chair of Sadler’s Wells since 2017. A graduate of the University of Oxford, Nigel has many years of experience as an investment banker and strategic adviser, including to several European governments.
Nigel joins the OQC Board at a pivotal time for the company and the wider industry. His appointment follows that of Colin Bell, former CEO of HSBC Bank plc and HSBC Europe, who joined the Board earlier this month. Together, Nigel and Colin bring considerable expertise in global banking and risk management, bolstering OQC’s ability to deliver quantum computing solutions that are optimised for financial services.
Quantum computing is expected to deliver measurable impact in financial services by 2028. From fraud detection and risk modelling to cybersecurity and trading optimisation, quantum computing offers the potential to solve problems beyond the reach of classical systems. OQC is already working with leading financial institutions to explore and deploy these capabilities.
The appointment brings further commercial and leadership expertise at the most senior level to reinforce OQC’s mission to deliver enterprise-grade, application-ready quantum systems that unlock competitive advantage for customers, and thereby strengthening the UK’s position as a global quantum leader.
Nigel Higgins said:
“Quantum computing has the potential to reshape financial services—from how institutions manage risk to how they protect and process information. OQC is at the forefront of this transformation, and I’m pleased to join the Board at such a pivotal time. I look forward to working with the leadership team to help bring quantum advantage to finance and other sectors of national and global importance.”
Jack Boyer OBE, Chair of the OQC Board, said:
“We are delighted to welcome Nigel to the Board. He brings exceptional leadership experience from global banking and a deep understanding of institutional strategy at the highest level. His appointment sharpens our strategic focus on finance and strengthens the Board’s ability to shape OQC’s direction as we deliver quantum computing to sectors where performance, resilience, and trust are mission-critical.”
Gerald Mullally, CEO of OQC, added:
“At OQC, our mission is clear: to deliver quantum capabilities for key national sectors, from finance to security and defence. Nigel’s appointment reinforces our commitment to expanding our impact in financial services, where his expertise will accelerate both our momentum and our role in shaping the future of quantum computing in global finance.”
About OQC
Oxford Quantum Circuits (OQC) is pioneering the quantum-accelerated world, delivering enterprise-grade quantum systems designed for commercial and strategic advantage. As Europe’s first Quantum-Compute-as-a-Service provider, and the only company integrating quantum in commercial data centres, OQC brings quantum capability to the heart of financial and national infrastructure. Our application-optimised compute empowers customers in finance, security, and defence to solve intractable problems – reshaping industries and strengthening sovereign advantage.
